On this day

may the prince of peace and the lord of lords, be my strength, as in, replace my strength with His.

MADNESS?

THIS
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
IS
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
SPARTA!!!

1 more paper! 

Ready, Steady, Go

The Traffic light is Green. I repeat, the traffic light is green.

Even after a crappy day,

Feeling so blessed now,

ThankYouJesus!

Joy

It can be said that today, I am literally at the edge of everything. Exams are starting tomorrow, I am feeling so tired, I slept so much and forgo-ed my studies for the day, I skipped meals and took friendships for granted, I stumbled in my walk, and in the process caused others to stumble as well. Most of the time, I chose myself, over God. Even when things are going well, I manage to mess it up.

But I woke up, not feeling the weight of all these upon my shoulders, I woke up, with a sense of peace and a Psalm in my head. It is not my own strength that lifted these things off me. It is by grace that I,with all my imperfections am still secure. He said that He will change me for His glory, and that for change to happen, repentance must come. I share with you now the Psalm that I have never seen before this.

Psalm 7

¹ 

LORD my God, I take refuge in you; 

   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
² or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

 ³ LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—
⁴ if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—
⁵ then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust.^[c]

 ⁶ Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 ⁸ Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

 ¹⁰ My shield^[d] is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
   a God who displays his wrath every day.
¹² If he does not relent,
   he^[e] will sharpen his sword;
   he will bend and string his bow.
¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons;
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.

 ¹⁴ Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
¹⁵ Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.
¹⁶ The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.

 ¹⁷ I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

The message I take from this is threefold. v12-v16 Firstly, nothing wrong can be justified in God's eye, and nothing evil will go unpunished. IF you have done wrong, God knows and will display His wrath. Keep in mind that this is from a position where one KNOWS better, and yet does not repent (v12).

But at the same time, God loves righteous people and will bring an end to wickedness and make them secure (v9). God saves the upright in heart (v10). So here it is, its not a matter of whether we can earn our love from God, that is already given, but the message here is that God is not a PASSIVE God that stands by idly, but a RIGHTEOUS and HOLY God that transforms and changes us so that we might do greater things.

Lastly, I take refuge in the Lord my God (v1). There are always situations we find ourselves in and realise that we cannot depend on ourselves any more, because we end up failing some point down the road. Stubborn as I am in always doing that, I hope to bring this verse into my life as I keep on learning to listen to Him. v10 - My Shield is God Most High. No others above Him.

May the joy of the Lord be my strength, because that is the only joy I need, not any other.

Go, Stop, Go

Dear Mr.Traffic Light.

Its been red for a while now, and I'm wondering if it will ever turn green. Waiting is no fun. But good things come to those who wait, no?

I know You will provide me, with the best green light.

but still, the selfish, impatient me asks,

(surprise me next week please? *grin*)

Thanks Mr Traffic Light, I know You've got my back. :)

Sincerely,

Not Eugene. How about Aiden?

A Funny Moment

The other day, I spent 20 minutes in tutorial doing the wrong past year question, and came discussion time, I proudly announced the first answer, only to be shot down gently by the tutor, "Youre looking at the wrong past year" *shy*.

Interestingly, I was the only one sitting alone. And it got me thinking, that mistakes will go unnoticed by trying to do anything alone, without guidance and people checking up on you.

Be not alone, Be humble and seek help.

Most importantly, do not depend on your own strength. For you might end up wasting it.

The Retreat

Retreat (verb).  a. A period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude. b. A period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, or study.

Both a. and b. rang true in this retreat. I could not have asked for a better culmination to 5 weeks of seeking and learning, of fellowship and growing, of discovering and building. There was simultaneously deeply personal finding and at the same time a bonding of a group united under one banner - Jesus. Time did not stand still, but rather it felt like every moment was fulfilled and purposeful, not one second of looking back. Because this was no ordinary retreat filled with ordinary people. LEADERS filled the hallways, LEADERS experienced God together, and LEADERS stood by one another in the two days in Kimgara Park.

I was inspired by the people around me, who had a fire burning in them, igniting everyone around them in so many ways. I was amazed at the willing hearts, who took in the Word and were hungry, so hungry for more and more. I was touched by the humble spirits all around me that strived for God's glory and not their own. Simply put, I was most excited because I could see that a whole new generation was born in that place. I was blessed by the abundance of examples to follow, of good influence, of wise words, of lessons learnt, of brothers and sisters I can count on, and I know, oh I know, that it all came from the simple fact that God was with us. Emmanuel. And He will be with every single one of us, beyond those two days, forever in us until the end of ends.

I guess it took 6 months in Melbourne for me to see how many times I've been messing up God's plans for my life. I need to realise that letting Him guide me, instead of trying to work more of me and less of Him at every step, would be the better option. To have the faith the size of a mustard seed, I wonder if I have that. One lesson that I learnt is that to flow down a river, you have to let go of whatever you're holding on to that is keeping you there.

I do not claim to come out of this a better person, if anything it has made me even more aware of what and where I am lacking in. But the joy is in that it has made me wiser, and that I am not alone in the race. And this race is different from any other, because in this race, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.